New Discoveries - Inuyasha AU
by KasWolfheart
Summary: This is something I did a long time ago. It is still a work in progress. Inuyasha seems to be going through a tough period in his life, Who better to comfort him then his own family? Will he find something to love once again? Find out as the story goes on. Sorry if updates are slow.


It was a cool summer day as a young demon with white hair down to his waist, stepped out of the shed where a small well sat. He turned golden Amber eyes up to the house before him. Every light was out in the house but that wasn't the reason he had came to this world. It wasn't the human girl. It was what was on his mind that bugged him. He thought that he could love the young human girl that freed him from the curse that Kikyo had placed on him but he couldn't. Not like a lover but more of a protective brother or uncle. He looked at the house one last time before turning to the sacred tree in the front lawn of the shrine. With one powerful leap he settled into the branches of the tree, leaning back to stare at the stars. In truth, he wanted to clear his mind. He had thoughts about the young fox demon that were starting to frighten him. Inuyasha found it odd that the young demon didn't age much over the years but one night caught him off guard. It was the night Shippo had started to act funny. His face flushed with a fever from the storm he had been caught in.

Inuyasha's memory

Lightning flashed outside, Kagome whined every time the light flashed in the small hut, signaling that she wouldn't be able to return to her time just yet. Shippo was missing. This worried Inuyasha. More than usual. It wasn't like the small boy to be away from Kagome or Sango. Inuyasha stood up when Kagome squeaked at another flash.

"I'm going."

"Going, going where?"

"To find Shippo. Something isn't right."

"B…Be careful Inuyasha."

"I will Kagome. Sango, watch after her for me ok?"

"I will Inuyasha."

With a nod of his head, Inuyasha stepped out the door as a flash lit up the night sky. Inuyasha didn't hate storms. In fact he thought they were beautiful. He stood a moment to watch the lightning then turned off in the way they had came to the village. Shippo turned up missing about a day before they had reached the village. It was Sango's idea to wait for the young fox at Kiade's village. Inuyasha thought that something was up and now he was going to find the small fox. He didn't have any idea what waited for him out there. All he could think about was the death of the fox.

~What if something happened to him?~ He thought as he took off at a run down the pathway they took to the village. ~I hope another demon didn't get the little guy.~

Inuyasha shook his head. Of course that was a possibility but somehow Inuyasha couldn't shake the bad feeling he had. He wanted to see with his own eyes if the young fox was ok or not. About an hour into his run he came across a battle field. Human and demons alike laid in a pile. Some burnt while others were either slashed with a sword or crushed by something heavy. Inuyasha paused and sniffed the air. There. It was faint due to the rain but it was there. Shippo's sent. Inuyasha jumped down into the small crater and began his search. After about ten minutes of looking at all the bodies he discovered that none were Shippo. His sent actually left the battle field. Following the sent he dove deeper into the forest, a new urgency on his mind. A few hundred yards ahead of him was a young male, looking to be a young adult. His tail dragged on the ground covered in dirt. He held his right arm as blood dripped from his clawed fingertips. His light brown hair was loose and resting just above his hips, dark patches showing the dirt and blood in his hair.

"Shows I need more practice to be like you Inuyasha." His soft voice fell on Inuyasha's ears, causing them to twitch.

"What?" Inuyasha whispered.

Taking a closer look at the young demon, Inuyasha immediately recognized the blue kimono top with the light tan fur vest and tan pants. His feet weren't feet but paws. The dog demon's eyes widened at this discovery. Was it really Shippo or was it someone that looked like him? Inuyasha felt his heart begin to race as he neared the demon. Sure enough, his sent was exactly like Shippo's.

"S..Shippo?" He asked in a whisper that betrayed both the happiness and fear that he felt.

The young demon turned bright green eyes to his older friend when he said his name. He gave a weak smile and began to sway. Everything was going numb. He no longer felt pain. He thought that after he fell from Kirara, he could catch up better in his true form, but as it turned out it was a mistake. Shippo had came across the humans and demons fighting. The humans thought Shippo was the demonic leader while the demons thought he was just another pray. He had no choice but to fight them. Now, weaken by the battle he had to seek shelter from the rain to heal. Darkness fall over the young fox as relief flooded him. This was not how he wanted to reveal his true self to his human friends, or the man he had fallen for.

"I…Inuyasha…" Shippo whispered as he fell to the right, quickly caught by the older dog demon.

"Shippo!"

Inuyasha panicked. Was he too late? Shaking his head once more he put the young fox on his back and looked around for some form of shelter. Tonight was the new moon and he had no way of protecting Shippo without his demonic powers. Miroku had warned him that this could happen. Spotting a small cave a few yards away and knowing that their sent would be hidden by the rain he headed for the make shift shelter. Laying the young fox down as gently as he could and using a sleeve of the undershirt of his hikama, he dressed the wounds. After that was done he used the remaining scraps to wash off the dirt from his face and body. Inuyasha sat back after his work was finished and sighed. How was it that he was stuck watching this brat….And….Why wasn't he surprised that he was indeed older then he pretended to be? Shaking his head at the thought he stood once more and worked on concealing the cave entrance.

Ten minutes had passed before he was finally able to conceal the entrance securely, just as the wind began to howl. Once back inside he turned to Shippo. He had turned onto his good side in a coughing fit. Immediately Inuyasha was by his side. He was out of his league. He didn't know how to care for anyone other than himself. He lowered his head to his knees that he pulled close to his chest. He didn't know what he would do if Shippo died. This thought made his chest clamp up and his eyes began to water. He felt so useless. Looking at his hand he sees that his claws were gone. Night had fallen. Now he couldn't go out to look for herbs to help with the fever. At least the storm had died down. He turned his brown eyes to the cave entrance with a sigh. He hoped he had done a good enough job at concealing the entrance. The scent of blood was strong enough that his human nose could smell it

"I'm sorry Shippo."

He placed his head back down on his knees as his body shook with his silent sobs. He truly felt useless now. Darkness followed soon after. When Inuyasha opened his eyes he was laying down, black hair falling over his brown eyes. Rubbing his eyes, he shifted on his soft pillow. His eyes snapped open and he found himself laying on his back, looking up at his elder brother, Sesshoumaru. Inuyasha moved to sit up but the gentle hand on his chest kept him from moving. He stared at his brother's cold face a moment before turning to look at Shippo. His wounds were dressed more properly and his fever seemed to be dying down. He saw herbs next to the young fox demon.

"Brother?"

"I thought it would help."

"Why?"

"Why else? So he can survive."

"No. Why did you not kill me? You had the perfect opportunity to do so and yet you sit with my head in your lap. Why?"

The stotic demon sat in silence for what seemed like forever to the human in his lap. "To be honest I wasn't sure. Yes I drew my sword but I couldn't deal the killing blow. Yes you to look like the human woman who gave birth to you but I also saw your father as well. For some reason I couldn't deal the blow. I felt like I should protect you more than anything."

"I still don't understand." Inuyasha said sitting up to look at his brother, who wrapped the shaking human up in his fluffy arm wrap.

"Inuyasha. Do you know the reason I never got along with father?" Sesshoumaru asked and sighed when the younger hanyou shook his head, eyes still wide. "It's because I was adopted into your family. My own parent's were murdered. Your father took me in. I resented him. For a man who killed my parents to take in the child out of sympathy? I hated him. But over time I grew to understand why he did it. Yes I looked like him but in blood we were as different as you and your young fox friend. It wasn't until I took in Rin that I finally understood why your father took me in. He didn't like seeing those under his rule in pain. He also thought that he would never gain an heir to his throne. So he took me in. The cold child without parents."

"Why are you telling me this Sesshoumaru?"

"Maybe I want you to know the truth. Inuyasha, you are the true heir to the throne. I am just a common demon under your rain. Yes I tried to kill you but it was because I resented that you would have the power that I so desired."

"I won't take it."

"Inuyasha?"

"I won't take the throne. It should go to the eldest right?"

"Inuyasha you are the only child that the great lord had. I am but a mere demon of no importance."

"You're wrong!" He nearly shouted as his hands clenched into fists on his knees. "You're wrong. You're my brother….You were always my brother…."

Inuyasha was nearly in tears. Was what Sesshoumaru said true? He didn't know but he could also be dreaming. He jumped when Sesshoumaru stood up. He took one last look at Inuyasha and walked out the entrance of the cave, leaving behind his shoulder fluff that Inuyasha almost immediately fell asleep wrapped up in. When Inuyasha woke again his hair was silver white and his ears twitched to the movement in the cave. His eyes snapped open when he didn't recognize the scent. His eyes were welcomed with the gruesome sight of a rather large bear demon, claws dripping with poison and Shippo on its left claw, motionless. Blood was coming from his mouth and the poison was eating away at the young fox's open wounds. With an angered yell, Inuyasha drew his sword, tears in his eyes. Shippo was clearly dead. Inuyasha couldn't deny this. But he wasn't going to let the bear have him.

It took only moments for Inuyasha to defeat the demon but it felt like an eternity to the young dog hanyou. Crying out in both frustration and anger, Inuyasha fell to his knees, not knowing that his grief filled cry had reached the ears of his beloved elder brother. Stopping short so that Jaken ran into his leg, he turned in the direction of the cry. Pain filled his heart and he started to walk back to the cave. It wasn't until the second pain filled cry that Sesshoumaru took off at full speed to the cave, leaving the annoying toad crying out for his lord. By the time he got to the cave he found it empty. He looked around in hopes to find any sign that his brother was ok but all he got was the scent of poison filled blood and salty water. Tears no doubt. He followed the scent all the way back to a small village. Kiade's village. He followed the scent to one hut. The old priestess's hut. Before he could even reach out to the door he heard the sound of crying. It wasn't Inuyasha but he could feel the depression coming off the young hanyou. No. It was the humans that cried.

A small growl alerted the humans to Sesshoumaru's presence and he entered the hut, surprised to find the dead body of the fox demon hugged close to the young miko from another time and wrapped in his fluffy arm wrap. Kagome if he remembered right. Before the humans could react, Inuyasha was on his feet and running to Sesshoumaru, nearly diving into his chest plate armor and clinging as though his life depended on it. Sesshoumaru blinked slowly before wrapping his arm around his hanyou. He blinked at the thought. Since when had Inuyasha become his hanyou? Confusion rang up with alert in the humans but Sesshoumaru just stood there, rubbing the younger hanyou's back and looking at the body of his beloved fox. Sesshoumaru knew then that the hanyou had been in love with the fox. After a moment Inuyasha took off out the door. Sesshoumaru knew he would need his space. For now? He would await his return with the human he held so dear. He would protect them till his return.

Looking at the body again he sees that his young hanyou had forgotten his sword. Walking over to the sword he touched the hilt. When nothing happened he picked up the sword. Now he understood why Inuyasha was left with the blade. His eyes narrowed as he looked at the blade. Yes. He would use this blade to protect the humans for Inuyasha. He turned after putting the blade with the other two on his hip and walked outside, leaving the shocked humans behind.

End memory

Inuyasha opened his eye to look at the sky. Down below, Miss Higarashi was looking up at him, a lit candle in her hands. With a small sigh, she walked to the house, returning a moment later with Inuyasha's favorite drink. The warm scent caught Inuyasha's nose and he looked down, not in any hurry to get the wonderful drink. Instead it made him want to cry again. He remembered sharing the wonderful drink with the young fox. He dropped to the ground, head still lowered to the ground, before the miko. When he looked up at her, her heart nearly caved in with the pain that showed in his eyes. Yes it was unusual for Inuyasha to come over to this side without Kagome but she felt that maybe he sought the help of a mother he never had. When he lowered his head again she put the drink down on the ground and embraced the young half demon, much to his surprise.

Inuyasha wrapped his arms about the frail human, glad for the feeling of comfort. After a moment she sat him down and handed him the warm drink. Lavender tea with a hint of sweet honey. He had always seemed drawn to the scent so she made it especially for him. Inuyasha seemed happy about the silent comfort. It was what he needed to clear his head and think. She stood up and placed a hand on his shoulder, causing him to look up at her. She gave him a gentle smile, similar to the one Sesshoumaru gave him. He lowered his head and his ears fell. He stood up as well and followed the human into the house where she led him to her daughter's room. She left him standing there with the tea in his hands. He sighed and placed the cup down on the desk. Walking over to the bed, he laid down on his back, staring at the ceiling. It felt like forever. His thoughts in a mad scramble in his mind. He turned onto his side, away from the window and closed his eyes, a deep restless sleep washing over him.

Outside a very surprised Dai-Youkai stepped out of the shed that housed the bone-eaters well. Looking around the dog demon sniffed the air. There. His brothers sent. It was hidden behind the scent of lavender and honey. Sesshoumaru smiled. It was the scent of the drink he used to make Inuyasha when he was younger, wandering where his father had gone. Of course he never actually gave it to him but he surely did make it. He followed the scent to a small window on the second floor of the building. The window was open to let in the cool night air. From the room he hears a soft whimper that makes his heart clench from grief. Sesshoumaru opened his eyes again, remembering the shock on the fox's face. He had come to retrieve the Hanyou, to let him know that his beloved fox was alive once more. From behind him the shed doors slid open. The scent of the Miko filled the air along with the scent of despair. Looking back at her, her cloths told the story. She had more blood on her cloths. The same blood that was filled with poison. She had a few cuts on her skin that was filled with poison, but not deadly poison. Sesshoumaru's eyes narrowed at her wavering walk to her house. He followed just to make sure she was ok. Her mother however didn't see it that way. She nearly panicked until she saw the older demon behind her. With his calm look, she knew that her daughter would be fine. Standing in the doorway, Sesshoumaru waited. Miss Higarashi pointed up the stairs, seemingly knowing what he wanted. He nodded his thanks and made his way up the stairs, following his brother's scent.

In a small bedroom he sees his brother whimpering in the midst of blankets that twisted around him, showing the restlessness of his nightmares. He strode over to the bed and sat down, placing a hand on his brother's forehead. He was warm. No dought from the storm. He pulled back the covers, discovering that his cloths were still soaked from the rain of their time. How could he of not noticed. On the desk was the still warm cup of honey sweetened lavender tea and a new set of sheets with what looked to be a new kimono similar to the one he wore. With a nod to the older miko that disappeared out the door, Sesshoumaru set to work. Stripping the hanyou of the wet cloths and drying him off with a towel.


End file.
